Only 13 more peaks to go!
Beyond Possible Nimsdai Purja Hodder & Stoughton £20
We all know that Everest is the highest mountain in the world, but few outside the climbing community appreciate that it is just one of 14 daunting Himalayan peaks that rise to at least 8,000 metres, the height above which the scarcity of oxygen has frequently proved fatal.
Scaling all 14 of these mountains in the so-called ‘Death Zone’ is a feat achieved by only the most intrepid climbers, and until last year the record for doing so in the fastest time stood at seven years, ten months and six days.
It’s a record that now lies in tatters, thanks to Nimsdai Purja.
Purja is a former Gurkha, a veteran soldier who was the first member of his regiment ever to be accepted into the elite Special Boat Squadron.
As you’d expect, he’s as hard as nails and brave as a bull but, astonishingly, he began serious mountaineering only eight years ago. Never one to do things by halves, he hatched a plan to conquer all 14 Death Zone eightthousanders in only seven months, smashing the existing record by more than seven years. Not surprisingly, most people thought he was crazy.
The story of his epic highaltitude quest is full of nail-biting tension and narrow escapes.
Nims, as he’s known to his friends (and you wouldn’t want to be his enemy), survived avalanches and ferocious storms, and was fortunate not to die when he lost his footing and slid uncontrollably down an icy slope.
Other climbers he encountered were not so lucky.
The man’s sheer grit is astonishing. Time and again he forces himself through everescalating pain barriers, driving himself and his loyal team on through willpower alone.
As he says, quitting is not in his blood, and his book is both an inspirational study in leadership and a powerful testament to the human spirit at its very best.